A Healthy Shift

Text me what you thought of the show 😊 The Funny Side of Shift Work: Things Only Shift Workers Understand If you've ever woken up and had absolutely no idea what day it is, eaten breakfast at three in the afternoon or tried explaining to someone why being home during the day doesn't mean you're available, this episode is for you! After more than 40 years working shifts with Victori...

Text me what you thought of the show 😊 Why I Loved Shift Work After 40 Years | The Benefits Nobody Talks About Shift work gets plenty of negative attention. Poor sleep, fatigue, disrupted routines and the challenges of working outside normal hours. But after more than 40 years working shifts with Victoria Police, there were things about shift work that I absolutely LOVED. And I reckon we don&apos...

Text me what you thought of the show 😊 Across the last few episodes, I’ve talked about what I believe is missing in the way many organisations support their shift-working workforce. In this episode, I want to turn that conversation around and look at what we could actually build instead. What does a shift-work-capable organisation look like? For me, it isn’t an organisation where nobody gets tire...

Text me what you thought of the show 😊 Bringing someone into your organisation to educate your shift-working workforce can be incredibly valuable. I’ve seen firsthand what happens when people finally understand why they’re struggling with sleep, fatigue, light exposure, caffeine, eating overnight and recovery around their roster. But there’s another question I think organisations need to ask: Wha...

Text me what you thought of the show 😊 Who actually owns shift worker health inside a 24/7 organisation? Is it Health and Wellbeing? Safety? HR or People and Culture? Operations? Leadership? Or does responsibility ultimately sit with the individual shift worker? In this episode, I explore why I think that question is so important — and why the answer often isn’t as clear as organisations might ex...

Text me what you thought of the show 😊 We’re very good at teaching people how to do their job. But are we teaching them how to manage their life around when we’re asking them to do that job? In this episode, I explore what I believe is one of the biggest capability gaps inside 24/7 organisations: we give people a roster, train them in policies, procedures, systems and safety, and then largely lea...

Text me what you thought of the show 😊 This morning I joined Tony McManus on Australia Overnight for a conversation that went somewhere I think we need to go more often. What is shift work like for the people waiting at home? The conversation started with a powerful email from the wife of a retired police officer who had worked shifts for more than 42.5 years. She spoke about lying awake waiting...

Text me what you thought of the show 😊 What does it cost an organisation to educate its shift-working workforce? That's an easy number to see. It appears on a proposal, gets allocated to a budget and requires someone to approve it. But there's another number that's much harder to see: what does it cost NOT to educate your shift workers? In this episode, I explore the hidden organis...

Text me what you thought of the show 😊 Can You Actually Adapt to Night Shift? “I’ve been doing night shift for years. My body is used to it.” But does feeling comfortable working nights mean your biology has actually adapted? In this episode, I explore the important difference between becoming experienced at working night shift and true circadian adaptation . He explains why our internal body clo...

Text me what you thought of the show 😊 The First Day Off After Night Shift — What Should You Actually Do? You’ve finished your final night shift and now you need to transition back to days. So, what’s the best way to approach that first day off? In this episode, I explain why the sleep after your final night shift may need to serve a different purpose from the sleep between consecutive nights. He...

Text me what you thought of the show 😊 Nobody Taught You How to Work Shifts — And That’s the Problem Shift workers are trained to do their jobs, but how many are actually taught how to work shifts ? In this episode, I explore one of the biggest gaps in 24/7 workplaces: understanding the biological reality of working when the body expects to sleep and trying to recover when the rest of the world i...

Text me what you thought of the show 😊 Night shift doesn’t only disrupt when you sleep. It can completely change when you eat. One day you’re eating dinner at six in the evening. The next, you’re having a main meal at two in the morning, eating breakfast after work and then trying to return to daytime meals on your days off. Researchers call this “eating jet lag”: the difference between the timin...

Text me what you thought of the show 😊 Is night shift bad for your health? The research linking night shift work with circadian disruption, poor sleep, metabolic dysfunction and increased long-term health risks gives us good reason to take the question seriously. But there’s an important part of the night shift conversation that often gets missed. In this episode of A Healthy Shift, I look at two...

Text me what you thought of the show 😊 What if some of the biggest stressors in your life don’t actually feel like stress? For shift workers, stress isn’t only a difficult boss, a busy shift, financial pressure or feeling overwhelmed. Your body can be dealing with physiological stress even when you feel perfectly fine. In this episode of A Healthy Shift, I look at the stress we often don’t recogn...

Text me what you thought of the show 😊 Stop Replacing Shift Workers. Start Asking Why They're Leaving. If your organisation is constantly recruiting shift workers to replace the people who are leaving, there may be another question worth asking: Why are they leaving in the first place? Staff turnover in 24/7 workplaces can have many causes, including leadership, pay, career opportunities, wo...

Text me what you thought of the show 😊 I join Tony McManus on 3AW’s Australia Overnight for a lively conversation about the “pub test,” government spending, Victoria’s debt and the pressure facing police, nurses, paramedics and teachers. We also bring the conversation back to shift work health, including a practical overnight food option that can provide protein without a heavy meal. Then we spea...

Text me what you thought of the show 😊 What If Your Shift Work Expert Was Already on Shift? Who does a shift worker turn to at 2am when they're exhausted, struggling with night shift and wondering how much longer they can keep doing it? Usually, it's the person working beside them. That conversation might contain years of experience. But it can also contain outdated advice, workplace my...

Text me what you thought of the show 😊 Your Shift Workers Don't Need More Motivation. They Need Understanding. Are your shift workers really unmotivated, or have they simply never been taught how to work shifts properly? Many 24/7 organisations invest in employee wellbeing, fatigue management and health education, yet still struggle with chronic fatigue, unplanned leave, poor morale and staf...

Text me what you thought of the show 😊 Why One-Off Shift Work Training Isn't Enough for 24/7 Workforces What happens after your workplace shift work training ends? A seminar can create awareness. It can give shift workers those important lightbulb moments where they finally understand why they struggle with sleep, fatigue, nutrition, recovery and life around a 24/7 roster. But what happens t...

Text me what you thought of the show 😊 Creatine for Night Shift Workers: Could It Help When You’re Sleep Deprived? Could creatine monohydrate help night-shift workers maintain cognitive performance when they’re tired and sleep-deprived? Creatine is best known for its role in strength, muscle and exercise performance. But a growing area of research is examining something very different: creatine,...

Text me what you thought of the show 😊 Night Shift Health: Blood Tests, Nutrition, Creatine & the Best Diet for Shift Workers What should shift workers be doing to protect their health when working nights, rotating rosters and irregular hours? In this episode of A Healthy Shift | Shift Work Podcast, I join Tony McManus on 3AW Australia Overnight to answer real questions from people working ar...

Text me what you thought of the show 😊 If you've worked shifts for any length of time, you've probably heard someone say: "Don't worry... you'll get used to it." I'm about to explain why this is the biggest myth in shift work. In this episode, I explore why your body never truly "gets used" to night shift and explain the difference between simply survi...

Text me what you thought of the show 😊 Most shift workers already know they should sleep more, eat better, move more and look after themselves. So why is it still so difficult? In this episode I explore the gap between knowledge and action, why motivation isn't the answer, and why building habits that fit your roster is far more important than chasing perfection. If you've ever felt fru...

Text me what you thought of the show 😊 Most shift workers think better health comes from finding the perfect diet or the perfect sleep routine. But your body doesn't work that way. It responds to biological signals. In this episode I explain the four most important signals that influence sleep, energy, metabolism and recovery, and why improving them is often simpler than people think. If you...

Text me what you thought of the show 😊 Have you ever wondered why staying awake all night feels so much harder than staying awake during the day? It's not because you're weak. It's not because you're getting older. And it's not because your body is broken. Your body is doing exactly what it evolved to do. In this episode, I explain why your biology is actually trying to p...